


keep me grounded

by kingsolace



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 19:17:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14408790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsolace/pseuds/kingsolace
Summary: Nico is still stuck in a gaping pit of misery because of his sister's death, and in response, he's been pushing everyone away. The only one who's too obstinate to keep coming back at his door is Will Solace, the person that he didn't know he always needed in his life.Warning: angst ahead! Not much action or romance, BUT, Will played a huge part in Nico taking a move to start recovering as is implied. You know what, just read it. I suck at this.





	keep me grounded

It was dark.

It was nothing that Nico isn’t accustomed of. The darkness has learned to be entirely enveloped with him – developing to smother every inch of his body as it persists to wear every part he sought to care after. No light ever seemed to luminate the same way they did before; Nico has been hardwired to be the shadow lulling after everyone but never wanting to be felt. The slightest glow would mystify him, knowing it wouldn’t last long. It has always been like that. He grew restless of tailing after the light only to exist as one’s dark, never finding permanence.

It was as if his body was no longer his to begin with, he grew foreign over his own body.

Nico has always been incessantly pressed with visions of his sister. The horrendous tragedy reoccurs in his head whenever he had the slightest glimpse of hope. There was no day in his life that he didn’t hear Bianca saying her last words, leaving promises that only trail Nico at the edge trying to find balance in a world that’s no better than the void left in his heart. There was no day that he didn’t see Bianca laying still at her deathbed as the sickness finally consume her. There was no day that he didn’t rue not following her at her last breath.

He learned to suppress the visions by blinding himself with what the world has to offer – or the lack, thereof. He has pushed every people who tried to make it all better for him, because how could they? His insufferable life could not be alleviated as long as the person who have been there for him throughout could be brought back from the grave.

The only person who never stopped dropping by his house to check on him was Will Solace. That stupid boy with his blond hair that’s almost as reflective as the radiance he can impart wherever he chooses to be, with his clear blue eyes that made Nico appreciate the vastness of the ocean as well as its depth that once scared him – but Will’s urged him to discover, to look beyond, to explore. Nico have always loved Will’s freckles that goes at the expanse of the great constellations he’d never tire of connecting until he’s finally got a clear enough sight of the lovely portraits hanging on the midnight sky.

Will was too bright of an entity for him; and so Nico did one thing he’s best at. He’s been incessantly pushing him away but Will’s insistence never seems to dissipate, only growing more and more fervid with every day that Nico pries away from him.

Nico was afraid of letting a person grow into him only to have them fade from his own grasp. He was scared that he’d lose someone he values most at a very unfortunate circumstance. His stomach churns with anticipation whenever he sees Will at his door, his heart getting tugged with the urge to let him in his life – but his own voice never fails to admonish him from turning back. He wants Will, and that thought just petrifies him even more.

It’s been four months ever since he last seen Bianca, and it’s been exactly four months as well since the day Will started to come at his house very often to check him out. Nico doesn’t understand why Will continues to do so when all he did for the past four months was to be an asshole to him. Sure, they’ve been friends at the university before, but he doubts they’ve already formed a tenacious bond to make him keep coming back despite Nico’s reclusiveness.

Will was the complete opposite of him. Where Nico is a taciturn, morose guy, Will is an extremely upbeat, joyous person who seem to hold every ounce of happiness the world has to offer. Will never ran out of light to radiate – and that’s exactly what scared Nico the most. In no way can Nico clash with a person who shames the sun itself with how well he seems to emanate light.

Nico heard a knock on his door. And then another, and another, and another. It took a lot of his strength and willpower to get up from his bed. He didn’t even have to look at the door anymore to figure out who the person causing such disturbance can be – he basically already memorized the rhythm of Will’s knock. Everything Will do is serene, a music that sways with the rhythm of tranquil. Of balance. And with those knocking always come a soft-spoken utterance of, “Nico? This is Will.”

His heart always has that drill of racing twice as fast whenever he hears his voice. He breathed very deeply as a way of composing himself as he stood there completely frozen. That was how it always goes, with Will coming at his house trying to check on him only to be resisted by Nico. He doesn’t even open his door for him.

But now, it’s as if his shadows themselves are pushing him to grip the doorknob, twist it, and let himself see hope again. And so he did grip the doorknob. By doing so, Bianca’s last words vociferated at his head. ‘ _I love you, brother, and I hope you learn to let yourself go.’_ Those were words that he failed to understand, with misery obfuscating the supposed meaning of her message.

He didn’t understand, until now. He has always burdened himself with the idea that he was at fault for not doing enough, for not providing enough, and for not showing his most copacetic self before it was all too late. But he’s tired of running in the dark, meandering aimlessly with the weight of the unknown.

He saw from the windows that Will started to turn his back. Nico abruptly opened the door and just as he did, like a sudden lilt both captivating the two in a zone of nothing but utter comfort, Will looked back, his blue eyes dilating as he slowly walk towards Nico, still completely dazed with disbelief.

“N-Nico? Oh, God, are you doi—” Before Will could even finish, Nico pulled him in a hug. A thing that he hasn’t been able to do since Bianca, a thing that he has always found discomfort in, a thing he’s always found to be irrational.

But now, it felt like everything was at its place. Like he was grounded. For once, the light didn’t sting anymore and no longer does he feel like a shadow – he felt like he was truly seen, like he was felt.

Will hugged him back even tighter, and oddly enough, he was the one sobbing. “Thank God you’re okay. Never ever do that again, please. You’ve got me so worried.” Will straightened himself, wiping his tears, and then proceeded with his usual buoyant, very Will-like manner of speaking, “Now, I am requiring you to let me stay here for quite a while! Doctor’s orders!”

“You’re not even a doctor,” Nico replied and scowled in faux annoyance.

“Well, I am a pre-med student, don’t you remember? Same difference, Death Boy,” he retaliated. Nico shot him a glare, but they both knew that this was a moment they wouldn’t trade for anything else. A moment that was the best thing that happened in Nico’s life lately, something that gave him a strong grip to hold onto.

Nico still felt hallow, still felt like the sky’s going to fall over him any moment. But right now, he was able to take a step he hadn’t fathom he ever could’ve. This one incomprehensibly stupendous thing he didn’t know he needed didn’t fix everything, but it was a start. It was a risk he was willing to take, not alone, but with Will.

It was this solace that grounded him for once.

**Author's Note:**

> If you feel like I left you hanging with this, leave a comment and I might continue this! I have a lot figured out for this two as Will continues to be there for him all throughout Nico's recovery period. ( :


End file.
